Petitioners Gather Signatures to Put SB 1070 on Ballot

Phoenix, AZ – The drive sees to return state law to what it was beforelawmakers approved the controversial measure. Set to take effectJuly 29, it will require police to check the immigration statusof those they stop if they reasonably suspect the person is inthe country illegally and make being an illegal immigrant a statecrime. But the path to overturning the law the group is takingsets that hurdle of 155,000 signatures of registered voters. Moreto the point, petitions are due by July 1st. That translates outat something north of 7,500 signatures a day for the all-volunteer effort. Treasure Moira Carney conceded getting thatmany names in that short a time is unprecedented.

(But we are fighting an unprecedented situation where ourlegislature has chosen to adopt policies geared at removing fromour midst 500,000 of our fellow human beings, disrupting thelives of countless families, ruining our economy and making ourstate the subject of boycotts and international ridicule.)

Carney said even if the petition drive falls short she believesit will accomplish something by giving foes of the law a chanceto talk to people about it and possibly change some minds. Thepetition drive is separate from various lawsuits asking a federaljudge to declare the law illegal. For Arizona Public Radio thisis Howard Fischer